The subject for the April speaker's presentation at Bacton WI was " Barnardo's children in Suffolk 1890 - 1950".
It was a really good talk as the speaker had done so much research. His interest in the subject had begun because of the old school records in his village (Wickham Skeith in Mid Suffolk) which mentioned all the children listed as "boarders".
He gave us some background on Barnardo himself
Thomas John Barnardo was born in Dublin, Ireland, in 1845. As a young man he moved to London to train as a doctor. When he arrived, he was shocked to find children living in terrible conditions, with no access to education. Poverty and disease were so widespread that one in five children died before their fifth birthday.
His first step, in 1867, was to set up a ‘ragged school’ where children could get a free basic education. One evening a boy at the mission, Jim Jarvis, took Barnardo around the East End, showing him children sleeping on roofs and in gutters. What he saw affected him so deeply he decided to abandon his medical training and devote himself to helping children living in poverty.
Then came the children's homes both for boys and, after his marriage, also for girls who were housed in cottages in Barkingside. By 1900 the Barkingside ‘garden village’ had 65 cottages, a school, a
hospital and a church, and provided a home – and training – to 1500
girls
Barnardo’s was one of many children’s charities that sent some children to start a new life in Australia or Canada from the late nineteenth century to the 1960s. This was a popular policy, supported by the British government, who believed that the children would benefit from opportunities they wouldn’t have in the UK. We now know that however well-intentioned, it was a deeply misguided policy. The last Barnardo’s child to be migrated was in 1967, to Australia. In 2010 the British government formally apologised for the UK’s role in sending more than 130,000 child migrants to former colonies
I found the whole talk especially interesting because where I grew up the houses each side of me both had "Barnardo's children". They were adults of course by the time I was born but I grew up knowing these people had different surnames to the mothers (both widows). On one side "Auntie M" only found out she had family in Australia after her 'Mum' had died . She'd got to retirement age thinking she was an illegitimate only child but actually had come from a family ( perhaps where the mother had died in childbirth which was the most common reason for children being in care) and had a sibling who had been sent abroad. So sad. Luckily she got to meet up with her Australian family about 15 years ago.
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| Barnardo's collection box |
There is one part of WI that happens in all the groups that I have belonged to ....The Birthday Posy......and my birthday is in April so......
That was an interesting talk Sue on an institution that now hardly operates? I remember the collecting boxes for Barnado's children. Sending children to Australia, many of whom were used as labour was a blight on this country.
ReplyDeleteWe have a Barnados charity shop in Stowmarket and they still work with families and fostering
DeleteMy sister in law worked for Barnados until she retired a few years ago. She worked a lot with young single mothers, and young children with difficult family backgrounds whether due to parental illness, poverty, or addictions. Most of their work is community based now, rather than providing homes. But as needed as ever, sadly...
DeleteI can remember the Barnado's children too. Sending the children abroad was done with good intention - when you are this side of the world and the children on the other, hard to supervise. Like evacuees in WWII - many had wonderful homes and kept in touch for years, others were not well treated and some abused.
ReplyDeleteCertainly good intentions with so much poverty in this country I guess they thought a new start would be better
DeleteWe had a collection box a bit like that - or rather my nanna did.
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The speaker said when he holds up the collecting box - so many people always say the same - Grandma or Mum had one
DeleteMy nana was a Barnados girl, and her two brothers were sent to Canada to separate families. One was treated well, but one was treated appallingly. My dad is named after both his uncles. When nana grew up she had an illegitimate child - my father - who also became a Barnados child, at Barkinside. I would have found your WI talk very interesting. :)
ReplyDeleteIt was fascinating - he had also researched a couple of the girls from his village and what happened to them
DeleteSeveral years ago myself and someone searching for a 'missing' relation found that he had been sent to Canada in 1907 from a Barnado's home as part of the British Home Childrens scheme. His Mother had 2 illegitimate children, one unofficially adopted the other, Percy sent to live with his Grandmother who died in 1902. Percy ran away from the farm where he had been sent twice to try and join the army during WW1. The first time he was sent back and severely punished. The second attempt he travelled to a town further away and gave slightly different family information. The children sent to Canada were mostly used as cheap labour. Perry's family were delighted to be out I touch with his sister's family who they knew nothing about.
ReplyDeleteSorry, should read, in touch.
DeleteSo sad that some children - and it seems mostly boys - were treated so badly.
DeleteMy mother had spoken about a Barnardo boy back in her family history when I was young, but I never knew what that meant. Later, when I looked into family history, I discovered him and I think even figured out what ship he came on to Canada. He was included in the census of their home. They were farmers. I have no clue what happened to him. Thank you for this post as it gives me an even better understanding than the quick google search I did on the subject. -Jenn
ReplyDeleteGood to know my post was helpful for you. It was an interesting talk
DeleteAnnie MacPherson, a Quaker, started it. She then fed children from her homes through to Barnardos homes. She came up with the idea to send children to lands of opportunity. Her intentions were certainly good. To say that it was a blight on this country is almost to shoot the messenger. Her intentions were to build better lives for these children, what happened next is what happened at the hands of others in overseas lands. Hindsight is a wonderful thing in that the evidence then came out many years later that many of the children were treated as free labour.
ReplyDeleteThe speaker was very good - concentrating on what happened to the children in his village
DeleteMy husband lived at Hainault with an older brother and a twin sister. When the twins were still babies their mum had to go into hospital for a few weeks. Older brother went to stay with grandma but the twins went into Dr Barnado's at Barkingside - this was the very early 1950s. Husband requested and received papers from his time there. We often used to walk around that area when we visited before his parents moved to Thetford in 1980.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you husband was able to find out more about his stay in the Homes at Barkingside.
DeleteAs part of my teacher training, way back in the late 1950s we had to work for a week in a Childrens Home. I went to the Dr Barnardo's Home in Plymouth, and really enjoyed the family atmosphere that it had. It's a wonderful institution.
ReplyDeleteWe have Barnardo's here - they go about their work helping so many children (often as an advocate), yet we seldom hear anything about them. This was very interesting history :)
ReplyDeleteYou mentioned other charities - we recently discovered The Golfer has a relative who was sent to Canada by The Waifs and Strays Society. Their children went all over the world as well.
ReplyDeleteThis has been of interest to me for years. In the US children were put on trains and the train stopped at the towns along the way and families would choose children to take. Some situations were terrible and some wonderful. From what I've read about the boys sent to Australia it was a nightmare. A lot of the children were taken from their family and told that the parent(s) had died. I've read that some children were able to reunite with family after they were grown.
ReplyDeleteBarnardos and others were paid by the Canadian government for each child they sent to Canada. A few were treated well but most were used as poorly or unpaid servants and treated badly. Some were even murdered by their caregivers. My grandfather and his brother came to Canada as British Home Children and most had no idea what happened to their parents or if they had siblings. Mine were in the West Ham Workhouse and sent to Canada from there. They were orphans but they never knew that in their lifetime. My mother said her father told her they had been abandoned by their mother. She died in 1901 less than six months after their father.
ReplyDeleteWI seems to offer great topics for presentation. Your post is very interesting. Children without loving parents is a very sad situation. Dr. Barnado filled a real need for supporting children when parents were absent. I've met people that experienced foster family life and as adults they sought their biological family.
ReplyDeleteWe visited the Foundling Museum while we were in London. Very touching to me was that when mothers turned over their children, their names were changed. The mothers left a token of some sort that could be used to identify the child later, if her circumstances changed. The children were raised for service or military life, mostly, and their lives were harsh. A step up, I suppose from being abandoned in the street to die. But those tokens...the tiny hope that flickered in the heart of those mothers.
ReplyDeleteIt is terrible, the number of years it took to realize inhumanity to man also meant children, and how sad the little lives were. Not much Ann of Green Gables, except to readers.
ReplyDeleteWow. How very interesting.
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